Caffeine and Octane 1/9

Caffeine And Octane

Atlanta is not as well known for its car culture as, say, Miami or Los Angeles, but the capital of the South has plenty of auto lovers. Most of them can be found on the first Sunday of every month gathered together about 30 minutes north of the city in the suburb of Alpharetta for an aptly titled event, Caffeine and Octane. This show differs vastly from the average car show on a few fronts. First off, it starts at 7:30 a.m., and most of the cool cars are long gone by 10:30 a.m. Secondly, just about every kind of vehicle and spectator is welcome.

Trust fund kids and millionaires with fleets of new and vintage exotics are front and center at C and O, but they are not the majority. Most of the people who show up to show off their vehicles are hard working gearheads who’ve put in the time under the hood to get their cars in top-notch condition.

The cool thing about C and O is the lack of pretentiousness. Sure, there are car cliques. The Nissan Zs are grouped together, the old- and late-model BMWs park in the same place, and the muscle cars tend to gravitate toward each other, as do the Japanese speedsters. But the vehicle owners not only talk shop about their cars but also walk around checking out every other class on display. In essence, C and O is more a monthly gathering of old friends to catch up and show off their rides than it is a car show.